Easy, Homemade Banana Bread Recipe

Easy banana bread recipe with ripe bananas, flour, butter, eggs and spices. This one is so good, you’ll want to make 2 loaves. Jump to the full Banana Bread Recipe or watch our quick recipe video to see how we make it.

Banana bread has been on our to-do list for quite some time now. It’s a classic and we knew we couldn’t miss the opportunity to share our own easy version with you.

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How to Make the Best Banana Bread

There are no surprises in our recipe — you’ll find mashed bananas, flour, butter, eggs, baking soda and spices. Nuts are optional, although we do love the added crunch.

No matter what recipe you use, remember this: There is no point in baking up a batch of banana bread without using ripe bananas. In fact if you can wait a day for browned, overripe and speckled bananas, it’s even better. If your bananas are still green, wait a day or two. You won’t regret it.

It’s the bananas that make banana bread so moist, sweet and flavorful. Once you’re ready with your bananas, the rest of the recipe comes together quickly.

You definitely don’t need a mixer to make banana bread — a fork or whisk works perfectly fine. Treat the batter like muffin or pancake batter. Don’t over mix. You’re only looking to mix everything together until you no longer see streaks of flour. This way, the bread stays on the lighter, moister side instead of heavy and flat.

The bread bakes for quite a while – about an hour. Even though that seems like a long time to wait, the smell of banana bread baking in the oven is to die for. Definitely top 10 on our list of best kitchen smells!

Easy, Homemade Banana Bread Recipe

PREP 15mins

COOK 1hr

TOTAL 1hr 15mins

For the best, most flavorful bread, the bananas need to be ripe — overripe, brown and speckled is even better. Nuts are completely optional for this. We love the bread both ways, but do enjoy the extra crunch from a handful of walnuts or pecans. A note on pan size: We use a 8 1/2- by 4 1/2-inch loaf pan; if you only have a 9- by 5-inch pan, start checking for doneness 5 to 10 minutes earlier.

Directions

Prepare Batter

Center a rack in the oven and heat to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8 1/2-inch-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on top of the other.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together, set aside. In the bottom of a medium bowl, mash bananas into a chunky paste. Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla into the bananas until blended.

Switch to a large rubber spatula. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, stirring gently until they disappear and the batter is smooth. Stir in nuts.

Bake Banana Bread

Pour batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake 55 to 75 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. After 30 minutes in the oven, check the bread for color. If it looks like it is browning too quickly, loosely cover with aluminum foil.

When the bread is done, transfer it, in the pan, to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the bread and place right side up on the rack. Cool completely.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

It’s best to wrap the bread tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature overnight or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. (Since it’s just the two of us, we store in the refrigerator then when we want a slice we’ll give it a couple minutes in our toaster oven to warm up).

We use kosher salt. If you don’t have it on hand, keep this in mind: 1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt = about 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt.

Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

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